Raipur
Like last year, paddy procurement this year is going on uninterrupted for custom milling along with paddy procurement. Out of the total 107 lakh metric tonnes of paddy procured so far, DO has been issued for the lifting of 94 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, against which 87 lakh metric tonnes of paddy has been lifted by the millers. Officials of the Food Department said that on January 27, more than 32 thousand tonnes of paddy has been purchased from more than 8000 farmers and more than 2000tonnes of paddy has been purchased from the farmers through tokens received online.
Significantly, this year 24.98 lakh farmers have been registered in the state, in which about 2.32 lakh new farmers are included. In order to make it easier for farmers to sell paddy, 135 new procurement centers were started in the state this year, taking the total number of procurement centers to 2617 for paddy purchase in the state. Normal paddy is being bought at the rate of Rs 2040 per quintal and grade-A paddy at Rs 2060 per quintal. Similarly, strict monitoring is being done on the system of paddy purchase in the state.
Goods carriers are being checked at check posts to prevent illegal transportation of paddy from bordering states. The state government has set a target of procuring about 110 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from the registered farmers of the state this year. The movement of farmers in the paddy procurement centers and the arrival of paddy will exceed the estimated figures.
